Partnership for Resilient Communities

Scattered community health initiatives in Senegal leave thousands unaware of the potential of self-financed options at community level. Through outreach, better contracting and transparency in service delivery community resilience can improve.

Senegal launched its Universal HealthCare Coverage (Couverture Maladie Universelle) since September 2013 along a subsidized plan for the general public particularly the poor. The local Mutual Health Insurance Schemes - MHIS (Mutuelles de Santé) in Senegal is membership based whereby paying members get their healthcare needs taken care of up to a 50/70 ratio and in extreme cases (70/80) ratio or to the most 100% (full coverage). However despite resources put forth, the scheme has yet to be widely diffused and fully comprehended by its stakeholder populations. Expanding access to vulnerable groups would therefore require more time in the context of developing adapted communication tools for an all-time high illiterate audience, and would require more of a culturally competent approaches to engage and provide expected levels of attention and acceptance.

Experience shows that an adequate outreach and communication framework could minimize that discrepancy and maximize on quality service delivery to all members, both local endogenous health and counseling services that would otherwise be left out.

Strategy First llc plans to undertake a CONTINUOUS AND UNIFIED outreach and communications protocol  that would be discussed and validated at community level, with local stakeholders  covering specific endemics (Malaria, Obesity factors, Early Childhood Development… to name a few). Such thematic exchanges will be designed to stir conversations and understanding for preventive measures and subsequently incentivize enrollments at large.

Addressing the tangible needs of the informal sector in Africa starts with acknowledging their voicelessness and the WURI Challenge seems to have pointed to that gap. With my approach in building resilience at community level, healthcare delivery is the main focus but not without income generation capabilities enhanced and supported throughout local initiatives which is going to be a good match in addressing both health and income generation.

The proposed outreach and communication scheme will be conducted under Strategy First llc along with affordable healthcare services and counseling at negotiated rates leading to the achievement of the objectives of the established local “Mutuelles de Sante” (MHIS). Furthermore, the communication scheme would serve as an incentive for service providers in a more concerted way, and thus add value and  prospect to the country’s Mutual Health Insurance Scheme.

The proposed design will uniformly address and ensure better contracting with local medical and health professional services, centralized routine oversight and best practice accountability across local “Mutuelles de Santé” (MHIS) in Senegal.

At present, seven years after the landmark initiative in 2013, the coverage frame is still grappling with challenging issues such as public engagement on both ends, low enrollment rates and ultimately, ownership. The last four years including the current covid-19 context have witnessed considerable turbulences in its rollout, leading to closures of many  authorized community health initiatives in their respective locations,  and which came with the agony of  those who remained open to deal with  the  low availability of basic essential operational inputs  such as water and power lines -cut off as a result of unpaid utility bills- among other basic local essentials. With proper organizing and overhaul of the local community health initiative systems can deliver accordingly to their mandate.

Low enrollment levels, late government subsidies along with unchecked administrative processes (payments, contracting, and portability issues) are insufficient to incentivize enrollment options. So far, diagnostic reports and standard baseline layout options are anticipated to  obstruct the ratio of pay/service delivery of essentials health care services. Actual enrollment mechanism as is, of the MHIS is allowing significantly more benefits to additional dependents from primary members, in an effort to entice and thus increase enrollment; while this appears presentable and positive, it has turned out to be unsustainable in terms of  proportions of member/ dependent ratio, to current enrollment rates, fees received from paying members and subsidies from the government. Experience shows that an adequate outreach and communication framework could minimize that discrepancy and maximize on quality service delivery to all members, both local endogenous health and counseling services that would otherwise be left out.

Because most if not all local governments in Africa are open to Health Services overhaul, through their national policy agenda, I have been able to liaise with a few west african governments (Mali, Senegal, Guinea Conakry and Ivory Coast) which already are keen on Universal Health Care concepts.

In partnership with other technical and financial partners (domestic and international), I plan to address the above challenges using my own work in assisting U.S. consumers deal with package design, customer services, enrollment, all of which require knowledge of underwriting, contracting, plan determination/eligibility and coverage criteria, in order to successfully serve individuals, businesses and communities under a Universal HealthCare Coverage in Senegal. Within the framework of Strategy First llc I plan on reviewing and enhancing existing diffusion mechanisms to ensure greater accessibility of health plans to individuals and families in those communities in Senegal, depending on resource availability.

Digitalization is part of the overhaul initiative under my current concept and is meant to ensure continuity of care and availability of electronic health records of members to such community health initiatives with the right Personal Identifiable Information (PII) protection standards in place.

Existing local solar kits in use in most parts in Senegal allow data processing to remote areas where local health initiatives are part of our proposed network and existing digital platform at hand allow delayed data synchronization enough to sync inputs throughout the day from access point to cloud.

under 500

As I expand, existing community health initiatives will join with their members by thousands and based on the outreach and communication, such will generate continuous enrollment across.

Financial mostly, not having enough resources to commit and conduct the outreach and communication needed to enroll and unfold the renewed organizational standards meant to improve management and output by members of those communities.

Through gradual expansion as allows my own resources I will be able to get local governments to pitch in and help in such deployment on the ground.

2 Full Time up to now and 4 part time.

My team has demonstrated experience in local healthcare management in Africa and abroad.

All local community health centers in Senegal are potential partners to my initiative and enrollment of new ones are still on out of which we sign a MOU to initiate the partnership.

Output is critical in Healthcare delivery, throughout my partnership with such local community health initiatives, I help them in better organizing the delivery of healthcare to their members and find better contracting terms with their providers caring or their members. Considering that these initiatives can be run as businesses, I will help in any way they can generate a positive cashflow whereby my services rendered can be remunerated along with any other outside contracted party in the facilitation of the whole.

First contracted services and product delivery to such organizations will constitute a source of income over time as I help them grow first. Second grants and local government supports I can help them secure would help them remain less dependent of members contribution over time. My contractual relationship with such organizations rely on collective worth, as my collateral to remain confident that I will be paid over time not necessarily in a time sensitive modality approach.

Not yet except my own resources.

At this time I'd like to raise some seed money (around 100K) to start implementing the organizational plan with a couple of local health initiatives... Some more in need of infrastructural investments and some others just logistical support to get going. The bulk of it 30% in outreach and communication to drive membership and enrollment.

With my current own resources, in the ballpark of $3000